Build a Business Fan Base

For whom do you cheer?

College team? Pro team? Individual athlete? Your alma mater?

While you may argue with friends on whose team is better, on one thing you can agree: Sports franchises excel at building loyal fan bases. After a 100+-year losing streak, more than 5 million fans came together at the parade to celebrate the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series win – one of the most well-attended events in the world.

If sports teams can establish such loyal relationships with their fans, why can’t businesses? One of our clients, B2B digital agency One North, recently conducted a survey to explore how professional services organizations build loyalty among their clients. The results included some interesting advice on how marketers can better build loyalty.

With One North’s tips and a little inspiration from my favorite teams, creating a loyal fan base becomes a much less daunting task.

Create unique, useful content

Respondents from One North’s survey felt most loyal to companies that sent them useful content. The clients specifically appreciated intelligence addressing issues they faced (72 percent), competitive information (44 percent) and industry analysis (39 percent).

Sports fans also appreciate useful content, whether that be images they can share, stats about their favorite players or highlights from the league. The Minnesota Wild does a great job of sharing valuable content before each game by creating an infographic with stats comparing players on the Wild to players on the opposing team.

Your company is likely already conducting research or has useful industry stats to share. Take it one step further by sending your client an infographic or summary with best practices from your findings. Seventy-five percent of respondents said that timely business information plays a crucial role in building loyalty.

Be creative when cross-selling

Professional teams collaborate with numerous brands and charities for cross-promoting throughout the season. While there is obvious branding in advertisements and giveaways, teams are offering more creative ways to cross-sell with their sponsors. For example, the Chicago Cubs built the Park at Wrigley – an outdoor space adjacent to the baseball field where sponsors can host events. Even in the off-season, outdoor apparel company Canada Goose is hosting winter movie nights at the park. These events are a casual way for Cubs fans to interact with sponsors.  

One North’s loyalty survey discussed similar creative ways that business-to-business companies can cross-sell their services. For example, one respondent described a vendor luncheon where senior executives were invited to discuss business challenges and ambitions. The vendor arranged to bring its most relevant experts to the table for a casual yet valuable discussion. The respondent was originally skeptical but found the meeting helpful and continued to stay in touch with one of the experts. 

Additionally, marketers shouldn’t underestimate the value of email when cross-selling to loyal clients. One North’s survey also found that 94 percent of respondents are likely to open emails from a service provider that has earned their loyalty, even if the email is not from a direct contact. 

When it comes to content, the more the merrier

While it is common practice for marketing to create the majority of content for companies, regular collaboration with client contacts, business leaders and others in the organization will help marketers create valuable, interesting content that clients appreciate.

The social media team of the Green Bay Packers works with players and coaches to create content for the team’s social channels. The team posts interviews with players on Instagram and quotes from press conferences on Twitter. Even on game days, an Instagram takeover from a former player adds a perspective that the social media team would not be able to provide on its own. 

Embracing insights from people outside of marketing shouldn’t stop at sports teams. Kalev Peeka, chief strategist at One North, suggests that companies develop client-specific, information-rich web portals and include dynamic content such as interactive surveys or customizable benchmarking data. According to the survey, only 20 percent of organizations have dedicated web portals for clients. 

Client-specific web portals are a surefire way to impress your clients, but are not feasible for a marketing team to create on its own. Marketers would do well to collaborate with account teams, leadership, and even interns to produce interesting, valuable content that clients will appreciate. 

Every business needs super fans if it wants to continue its winning streak. By being strategic with content, embracing insights from people at every level of the organization and creatively cross-selling, marketers will hit a home run in client loyalty.

Full Disclosure: One North is a client of Sikich Marketing & Public Relations.